Description

This is a major, collaborative study of organised military activity and its broad impact on Ireland over the last thousand years or so, from the middle of the first millennium AD to modern times. It integrates the best recent scholarship in military history into its social and political context to provide a comprehensive treatment of the Irish military experience. The eighteen chronologically-organised chapters are written by leading scholars each of whom is an authority on the period in question. Drawing the whole work together is a wide-ranging introductory essay on the 'Irish military tradition' which explores the relationship of Irish society and politics with militarism and military affairs. The text is illustrated throughout by over 120 pictures and maps.show more

Review quote

'... huge but inviting ... it is difficult, for the general reader at least, to see what might be added to this history to make it more complete.' Books Ireland '... impressive and timely book ... a resounding triumph.' James Kelly, The Irish Times '... a quite splendid examination of Irish history through a startling revealing medium.' Kevin Myers, The Irish Times 'In the questions it asks as well as in the story it tells, this book provides a notable and sensitive new marker in the study of Anglo-Irish relations.' Eric Waugh, The Belfast Telegraph '... with its handsome format, numerous memorable and often unfamiliar illustrations and excellent text, the collection immediately established itself as the essential work for all curious to know of the Irish experience of fighting within and beyond their homeland.' English Historical Reviewshow more

Table of contents

List of illustrations; List of maps; List of tables; List of contributors; Preface; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations used in notes; 1. An Irish military tradition? Thomas Bartlett and Keith Jeffery; 2. Irish warfare before 1100 T. M. Charles-Edwards; 3. Irish and Anglo-Norman warfare in twelfth-century Ireland Marie Therese Flanagan; 4. The defence of the English lordship, 1250-1450 Robin Frame; 5. Gaelic warfare in the middle ages Katharine Simms; 6. The Tudors and the origins of the modern Irish states: a standing army Steven G. Ellis; 7. The captains' games: army and society in Elizabethan Ireland Ciaran Brady; 8. The wars of religion, 1603-1660 Jane H. Ohlmeyer; 9. The Williamite war, 1689-1691 John Childs; 10. The Irish military establishment 1660-1776 Alan J. Guy; 11. The defence of Protestant Ireland, 1660-1760 S. J. Connolly; 12. Defence, counter-insurgency and rebellion: Ireland, 1793-1803 Thomas Bartlett; 13. Irish soldiers abroad, 1600-1800 Harman Murtagh; 14. Non-professional soldiery, c. 1600-1800 David W. Miller; 15. Army organisation and society in the nineteenth century E. M. Spiers; 16. The army and law and order in the nineteenth century Virginia Crossman; 17. Militarism in Ireland, 1900-1922 David Fitzpatrick; 18. The army in independent Ireland Eunan O'Halpin; 19. The British army and Ireland since 1922 Keith Jeffery; Notes; Bibliography; Index.show more